I'd like to report a victory at Milne Bay. My radio communications were out and it took me this long to report. I know we have moved on and I will be sure to get the troops up to fighting capability. Please do not sack me as you have the previous commander. I hope to report more victories in the future.

The dice turned about halfway through the game. I dropped on the left, got slaughtered over there (although I picked up a few medals). I then switched flanks to the right and picked up the rest for the victory.

I think that completes all three rounds so far but I am not sure. Please advise.

In my book the round three match Antoi - Vaillants has not been played. I can't find the result anywhere.

But as the scorekeeper I am more concerned with posting the scores of round one, we have waited long enough now :

I would like to honour the Japanese Victory with a postcard by Kenji Yoshoika.

Historical background:

"December 7, 1941, was a day of infamy in the United States, in Japan it was a time for glorious celebration. At 7:55 a.m. Hawaiian time, 423 Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbour and surrounding military installations. Inflicting heavy damage. Led by Commander Fuchida, the first wave consisted of 40 torpedo bombers, 51 dive bombers, 50 high level bombers, and 43 fighters, with a second wave of similar strength following a short time later. The attack was planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and launched from six aircraft carriers, Akagi, Kaha, Hiryu soryu, Zuikaku, and Shokaku, and was a complete tactical and strategic surprise.

Although the United States lost two battleships, the Arizona and the Oklahoma, in the attack and three others, California, Nevada, and West Virginia were badly damaged, three aircraft carriers were at sea and escaped the carnage. Three United States cruisers and three destroyers were also sunk and 188 American planes were destroyed, mostly on the ground, along with 2400 men killed and 1200 wounded.

The Japanese lost only 29 planes. So, from their point of view, the attack was a monumental success. Artist Kenji Yoshioka records the event on a propaganda postcard simply titled &#8220;Attacking Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.&#8221; The brief description spoke volumes. Ironically, Admiral Yamamoto, architect for the attack who spent much pre-war time in the United States and feared American production would ultimately doom Japan in a protractes war, proved correct. Yamamoto himself was killed April 18, 10943, when his plane was shot down over Bougainville."

Form my usual source: Propaganda postcards of World War II by Ron Menchine (ISBN: 1-58221-024-1)

For me this round definitely was a Japanese Victory, but in light of the above I would count our three points as the three aircraft carriers that were out at sea and are saved to help us win over the Japanese in rounds yet to come!

Today, closeby the Markham river, two capitains and their troops met. As soon as the Yankees had the Japs in their view, they called the HQ to request aerial support. The answer was immediate: paratroops were successfully sent on their left flank and the fight began...

The US had the first word to say. Thanks to the renfort, they hit and liberate the town of Nadzab. First medal won. The Axis was a bit surprized and didn't know how to react to this attack. The reaction was desorganized: some troops in the centre were sent forward and the artillery pounts the US left flank without any success.

The American did expect a more massive Japonese answer and the HQ, probably sure that with the paratroopers the Major Antoi would be fine, didn't decide to give any more support. The Major decided then to move carefully a tank on the centre. It was possible to American's eyes that this tank was the perfect target for the Japs. On their side, the artillery continued to pount American troops and the Capitain Vaillants gave the order to some of his troops to enter the tunnels to have a better flexibility in their manoeuvres.

Still not sure of what was really happenning, the American artillery sent some shells close to the tunnels. The Japs continued to enter the tunnels, but this time on their left flank. And the American to repeat their acts: same target hit, with the same artillery. The diversity of the order given was really poor. Who to blame ? American HQ most probably. The possibility to do a firefight, or a bombrun, or an assault would have probably changed the sort of this battle. The Japs enjoyed this break time and takes progit of the situation: they sent their center tank to the left to hit a tank on the US right flank.

Finally, the US HQ became aware of the danger of the situation! A firefight was ordered. The attack took place everywhere. Both Japan flanks were hit severly, two losses had to be deplored. To this, the Axis took advantage of the troops that they positionned in the tunnel to reinforce their flanks. On their left flank, some infantry troopers finished the work done by the destroyed tank and achieved to bring the first medal to the Axis. 3-2.

The rest took mostly place on the center where two infantry troops were hidden in the woods. The advantage was still for the American and English (althouhj absent today) until the point where the Japs experienced a fit of pride: on the American left side, they damaged three units. Thy took the control of the central part of the battlefield but the Japonese right flank was still weak and this weakness was spotted by the American. Those destroyed a Japonese unit close to the town of Nadzab.

Perseveringly the American achieved to chase away the Japs hidden in the woods. They suffered from some casualties because of an embush during this chase-out. The score was then 6-6. That was tight and knowing that the most forward American unit is a really weak tank.

This weak tank didn't last long. The artillery of the Axis did some precise shots to destroy it. The same artillery did not last long as well. Directly of the hit, a barrage was ordered by the US HQ and the whole artillery was destroyed.

The Japonese had the last word. They kept fresh units to finish the work on the English right flank.

Thanks to my opponent for this brilliant game! He got his revenche by winning 8-6. Note that my paratroopers couldn't swim out of the river
Thanks to LooneyLama for this very nice scenario, I already look forward to playing the next one !!

The armed forces took advantage of the skills of their personnel by encouraging them to practice their art while serving their country. Bill Mauldin, Dave Breger, and George Baker are excellent examples, having created Willie and Joe, Private Breger, and the Sad Sack, respectively.

Far less known is Private Dick Bothwell, who produced works like this postcard entitled &#8220;Special Delivery from the USA.&#8221; Produced early in the war, it calls attention to Col. James H. Doolittle&#8217;s raid on Tokyo and other sites on the Japanese mainland on April 18, 1942, staged a little over four months after Pearl Harbour. The Doolittle Raid, not made public in the United States until the second week in May, proved that Japan was vulnerable from the air.

Source: Propaganda postcards of World War II by Ron Menchine (ISBN: 1-58221-024-1)

The results after round 3 will be published shortly, but the exit polls show that the Axis may have a slight lead.

Thanks for the updates and for the post card history information. I really enjoy it.

Anyway, let me know if we have completed all three rounds. I will then post our next scenario. For everyone's information the next 2 are going to be tough for the Allies. They are 2 of my favorite ones though. I may use them in my next Booklet with rules for the board game. Stay tuned.

Thanks to my opponent for this brilliant game! He got his revenche by winning 8-6. Note that my paratroopers couldn't swim out of the river
Thanks to LooneyLama for this very nice scenario, I already look forward to playing the next one !!

It was a fierce battle, and the result was very close.
Thanks for a great game Vaillants!

Eric tells us the next two scenarios the Alies have it hard. Well I can tell you round 3 wasn't a picknick either. The Axis overpowered us 7 to 3.

The scores:

And another postcard from a Japanese viewpoint:

by Saburo Miyamoto

Japanese postcard artists such as Saburo Miyamoto took great pride in celebrating all of their nation's military victories during World War II, most of which came before 1943. None was more glorious than their victory over the British at Singapore.

On December 8, 1941, the Japanese 25th Army, un der the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, landed in Malaya and rapidly advanced toward the key city and port of Singapore. British Empire Forces consisting of troops from Australia and India, as well as Great Britain, were continually pushed back until January 25, 1942, When Field Marshall sir Archibald Wavell, in charge of Far East operations, ordered General Sir Arthur Percival to retreat to the vaunted Island citadel of Singapore itself.

Singapore was considered an impregnable fortress but all its guns and fortifications pointed towards the sea. Wisely, General Yamashita attacked through the jungles of Malaysia and on Februari 15, the battle was over. /
General Yamashita accepted the surrender of General Parcival and over 70000 of his men. His remarks to General Parcival at the surrender were terse and cold: "All I want to know from you is yes or no." It was the greatest military disaster in British history and certainly ranks among the crowning achievements for Japan in World War II.

Propaganda postcards of this type were available to Japanese troops in order to instil pride in them as well as the people at home. The same image on this postcard showing a British soldier bearing the white surrender flag was captured on newsreels and still photographs shown around the world. Incidentally, General Yamashita, the Hero of Singapore who later commanded Japanese forces in the Philippines, was executed as a war criminal in December 1945 for his part in the Bataan Death March in 1942.

Source: Propaganda postcards of World War II by Ron Menchine (ISBN: 1-58221-024-1)

As I will be running out of postcards favoring the Axis side, it is inevitable that the Allies will start gaining victories soon!

I appreciate you keeping up with the total scores at the end of each round (even though my record to date is nothing to write home about!). However, you need to change the heading. We are now playing Looney Llama's Pacific Front Tournament, not the Eastern Front one still.

I am pleased to report that my Allies turned back lucky91's Japanese by a score of 8 (34) to 4 (22).

I rolled 69 dice (hit rate 46%) to 42 dice (hit rate 52%).

The Japanese hit my left and center early on and had some success here but soon I got the uppper hand as my tanks came into play. With the sun rising fast my arty also joined in from time to time. the Japanese center was shredded along with their right. A final Japanese push on my right could not turn the tide and I finished off two weak infantry. The Japanese drive never got far.

In the turn around game I also won as the Japanese - 8 to 5. But is was closer than that as a 2 fig Japanese infantry survived an AMBUSH to finish off a Combat Eng infantry of the AF and I took that medal hex to end things. But The Marine fire was off (only 38% with 69 shots to my 44% with 68 shots) and day was slow to come. A midgame Allied TFH only ordered an infantry which was a key failure in that game. If the Allies had a few more decent cards in the center I think I was toast as I could not order center units for some key turns.

A pretty balanced game, with a slight dice advantage for me.
Tony started diplomatically, by welcoming me and saluting me in Portuguese!

At 6-7 medals, he played for 3 center units and moved forward 2 infantries and selected an artillery to shoot. With no tanks in play, I think that was his decisive mistake - and to make things even worse, one of his infantries had 3 figures and the other one moved 2 hexes, thus being unable to fire! (some say that his wife distracted him at that point, with unresistant temptations...)
He accomplished one hit and in my next move I had the opportunity to roll 8 dice against 3 infantry figures, for the win. I was lucky too, because I killed it with only 3 dice..

With no tanks in play anymore, with 2 allied artilleries vs my single one and an Infantry Assault and Barrage in his hand (full daylight then), I believe it would have been a much better option to retreat and make me go forward.
Still a very enjoyable match, as Tony always provides!

I also won the rematch by 8-6, but the dice were then much more unbalanced (64% vs 45% against infantry) and I managed to roll 15 more of them than Tony.

Again, thank you for the games and for your invaluable good mood, Tony! It's always a true pleasure playing with you!

Yes, it is true, I thought I was greeting him and saluting him in Portuguese, but apparently the computer translated it to "May the better man win" which André was on this encounter!

His analysis is spot on about the situation on my fateful move, I lost my tanks early, he lost his late and with troops and cards in hand, I could have waited in out, but my wife's hunger and my bloodlust lost out to a wiser course of action! What is a husband to do when his wife is whispering in his ear "Finish him already!"

All kidding aside, a fun match as always against André and unfortunately a loss for the ALLIES, we each had chances, his just a little better as were his dice.

Abrigato André, a pleasure as always and continued good luck going forward.

This was no chess playing match, there was no finesse, it was an all out slugfest.

Jaykay stormed out of the gates and attacked Edson Ridge with four infantries. Slew one of mine immediately. But the other one fled on a flag. I then, of course retaliated fiercely but only wounded Japanese units. These wounded units then proceeded to kill another of my infantries. 2-0 for Jaykay

This had gone on long enough so I destroyed on of his but he then destroyed an armor unit. 3-1 I then finally managed to get two of his infantries for 3-3 and got the upper hand in the middle again. The sun had until then only got up to 3 but in one fell swoop (three stars) heaved itself over the horizon to shed a little light on Edson Ridge Seeing clearly now I rid the ridge of all the Japnese that were there but they managed to snag one more of my infantries. 4-5 with me having the edge.

After brushing of an air attack of the Japanese on my left my two remaining infantries and sniper closed in on the artillery there and one remaining Japanese infantry. The i artillery used an artillery bombard to move into the jungle, but it was wounded by my sniper (1 out of three shots in three turns hit) the Japanese infantry was killed but one of mine reduced to one figure was killed by the artillery. A their finest hour and my sniper firing both barrels took care of it and gave me a comfortable 7 to 5 lead and all Japanese to my right. With two two figure japanese infantries on the edge of the section or board. Jaykay then missklicked or made a mistake and did not move his sniper out of the jungle and one of the wounded units in.

An assault in the middle got me 5 dice on the two figure infantry and that was enough to get my final medal.

As always a pleasure to play Jim and bash our heads together.
This time I prevailed, but who knows what may happen next time.

In total darkness, the Japanese advanced their entire armored force against the entrenched infantry on our right, and we were able to totally "de-tank" them while losing just one infantry unit. After their 5th turn, they still couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces.

Most of the battle took place on the flanks. My ammo was defective, with a series of 3 turns on that flank rolling a total of 9 hits and 1 kill out of 31 dice against infantry. However, that kill and very effective MEdics got us started on a steady march to victory, with one kill per turn for the remainder of the battle.

When the Japanese finally advanced in the center, on their 12th turn, I riposted with an Attack Center that easily could have gotten 2 kills and won the battle -- knowing that I could Barrage a weakened unit on the following turn to wrap it up. The IJA then launched their own Attack in the center, finishing off 3 1-fig infantries and making the score much closer than it had been. Then, I called in the Barrage for the victory.

On a dark Thursday night, the battle of Guadalcanal took place.
The japanese commander Droopy007 and Allied Commander Antoi had to throw in all their expertise to win this great battle.

under cover of darkness the Japanese imperial soldier came closer to the allied positions,
The allied commander was surprised to see the Japanese and for a while it looked if he could only react to the right flank
Unfortunately for the japanese commander his advance in the center came to an hold due the lack of good cards.

Both commanders stood their ground and casualties where high for both sides.
Luckily Antoi managed to stop the Japanese advance and gain the victory.Final Score:
Allied 8
Axis 6

Thanks Droopy for a great battle! you're a worthy opponent and fine player to play against

WOW, what a comeback! Down 7-3 and grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat.

Yes, it was quite a comeback; much to my chargin It was well played, and I just couldn't get my final kill. Congrats to Frostberg and I hope to redeem myself from my less than stellar record, which is sitting at a wondrous 0-4

On a funny note, I was so confident in my victory that I was already starting to get the forums page up to write the tale of my glorious victory...guess I counted those chickens before they hatched...

JJs, thanks for sharing your story. It is wise not to count those chickens too early.

In my game with Kellogs, I thought it was all over after 3 turns. He steamrollered me to a quick 7-3 lead. I managed to make a comeback and had a chance to win if I would have had one more turn. I think this scenario does lend itself to possible comebacks. It really is playing quite even.

The Axis began by attacking the ridge, after some initial hesitation that allowed the sun to rise to 3 and providing the Allies a crucial advantage. By the third Allied turn the sun was up to 4, allowing the left flank sniper to come into play, and the Allies scored the first medal. The Axis took their first medal on their 4th turn, after which there was fierce fighting in the center, with many figures lost on both sides, but no units eliminated. On the 6th Axis turn, an Assault Center fizzled; the Allied counterattack, on the other hand, bagged two units; now 3-1 Allied. The Axis then Close Assaluted on their 7th turn, getting a medal: 3-2 Allied. The Allied 7th turn was a key turning point: 2 medals scored on a Center Attack, and a sniper taken out: 5-2 Allies. An Axis Air Power attack on 2 1-figure infantry units and a full strength tank netted only one tank figure, the two infantry units escaping unscathed.

Having played out the center (the Axis units having been eliminated), the battle then switched to the flanks. ON the 8th Allied turn, a Right flank Attack seriously damaged (3 hits) an Axis infantry. On the 9th Allied turn an Armor Assault took out the baseline Axis artillery and scored two hits on a full strength infantry: 6-2. The Axis responded by killing the tank that took out their Artillery: 6-3. A tank and sniper then took out the previously damaged infantry on that flank: 7-3. The tank was killed by the remaining infantry: 7-4. Finally, back on the Allied right flank, a barrage aimed against the 1-figure infantry unit gained the last medal there.